Nuclear sunglasses

This is a bit of trivia I just learned yesterday and love! Though Australia has only one nuclear reactor* (for medical isotopes), their Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPASA) sets the standards for sunglasses :-) Because - hey - UV radiation! If only everyone had this level of understanding of the word radiation. And... solar radiation is a serious issue in Australia.

*in spite of having huge reserves of uranium

FREE KETCHUP!!!

The lack of providing free ketchup with chips (or fries, as we call them in the US) is one of my pet peeves in Australia. McDonald's does it. Few other small restaurants do. They charge a dollar or two - huge markup / source of revenue. Here - at Hungry Jacks - not only is it provided free (I had to ask twice) - but it's called ketchup, not tomato sauce!!

Tea Wars!

One of the first customs I was struck by in Australia was "morning tea" or "afternoon tea". These phrases are used synonymously with "morning break" or "afternoon break", but when I was with a group of older Australians it was really accompanied by the consumption of hot tea - even in summer.

What about cold tea? Surprisingly, when I first arrived, the only cold tea that was universal in convenience stores and fast food was bottled Lipton tea. It seems cold tea was just not a thing in Australia.

Casting about for things I might do here (since employment seemed to be difficult to come by), I thought maybe I could promote ice tea? Alas, I returned to the States and worked six months (easier to get a job, and higher pay in my profession). But I'm back. And what do I discover? Hungry Jacks now has ICE TEA in their soda fountain.

I predict that within two years, ice tea will be much bigger in Australia. There is already a wide variety in many convenience stores, but it hasn't filtered into restaurants - only Hungry Jacks and, apparently McDonald's (haven't been to one yet). But what's behind this? First of all, Lipton, the bottled tea that's universal here? It's owned by Unilever. And the tea at Hungry Jacks is Fuze Tea, owned by... you might guess - Coca-Cola. So yeah, to imagine that I might introduce iced tea to Australia... and compete with Unilever and Coca-Cola? Of course, there's the craft, home-brew, whatever... but they're not going to take that from an American. They'll only roll over for the big guns. (defeatist? My brother says I should become the Granola King of Australia, since I found granola to be boutique-y and overly priced. Honestly? My motivations lie more in the social justice, nonprofit direction. Coca-Cola’s Fuze Tea arrives in Australia

Barnaby Joyce barking up the wrong tree ?!

This situation highlights how estranged I feel from Australian politics and (if true) perhaps a fair portion of the Australian people.

For those unfamiliar, some backstory... It came to light that the officials in charge of dog racing were not only aware that there was widespread abuse of animals, including prohibited use of live rabbits for bait, but were fairly complicit in the ongoing violation of rules over which they were charged with enforcing. For this reason the State Premier Mike Baird *banned* greyhound racing.

Now, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is blaming this ban for the Liberal Party losing several seats in local elections.

Personally, while I'm not a dog racing fan, I'm for the humane treatment of animals, and I believe laws that people disagree with should be changed, not just ignored; overall, in the grand scheme of governmental policy, I see dog racing as a *side issue* not something to make or break a candidate.

I would like to think that the constituents of a major party base their decisions on something more than dog racing. Granted, I don't agree with many of this party's policies. I should be glad to see them losing seats. I agree that a sport that has demonstrated widespread corruption should be ended, especially since it is more about gambling than love of the actual sport. But what Barnaby Joyce is saying here is that a lot of Liberal supporters care nothing about general governmental policies and everything about the continuance of a sport that has demonstrated corruption top to bottom? That they would throw out their politicians due to ending dog racing and no other reason? Barnaby is making the supporters of his party sound like incredibly unintelligent punters (Australian-speak for someone who spends much of their spare time drinking in a gambling establishment). This also speaks for the American method of making voting optional, not mandatory, if the only thing voters are enthusiastic about is dog racing?

I want to give the voters more credit. I'd also like to give the people they elect more credit. I don't like a number of Baird's policies (in spite of his good decision on dog racing), and would like to think that's the reason people are voting his party out. Maybe Joyce doesn't want to admit the voters are bothered by something more substantial? Maybe I should realize this is a guy who made international headlines for barking at Johnny Depp's dog??

side note: the marks on his face are for skin cancer treatment, not getting punched. At least he is showing some common sense in getting treatment.

Barnaby Joyce blames Mike Baird's greyhound ban for local election results